We are now more than halfway through the Dominican Summer League season and the Phillies entry has been improving as the season progressed.  They are now 26-17 after going 13-3 in their past 16 games.  The exciting part of this turnaround is that much of it has been based upon the play of younger prospects aged 18 or under.  The DSL team in 2007 seems to be superior to the VSL at the prospect level with the results showing up in recent performances.  This update will focus more on individual player performance with the top performers and likely prospects.

Offense

Sebastian Valle – C – age 17 – Valle turned 17 this past week.  Last week he was the Phillies lone representative on the NL squad at the DSL all-star game (0-1, BB).  As a left-handed hitting catcher Valle had a great offensive start, though has tailed off some lately as other teams have pitched around him.  His average stands at .303, though 24 BB give him an impressive .442 OBP.  His power has been non-existent over the past month, however, with only 1 2B in 59 July at bats.  With his young age, he is still probably the top offensive prospect on the team.  Valle is from Mexico, representing the Phillies first significant foray into that country’s prospects.

Leandro Castro – CF – age 18 – As Valle’s offense has tailed off, Castro’s has soared.  While only hitting .269, he leads the team with 4 HR and 28 RBI and 21 SB.  He has also picked up his walk rate with 15 of his 19 BB in the month of July.  Speed, some power, and an improving idea of the strike zone make Castro a player to watch.

Lendy Castillo (age 18) is a slap hitting SS hitting .305, though a lack of power and patience gives him an OPS of only .710.  Pedro Aguilar (age 18) is another power hitting catcher/DH, though he has only played 6 games behind the plate.  He is hitting .289 with 3 HR and an .829 OPS.  Several older players playing well include 1B Vladimir De Los Santos (age 20, .326, .876 OPS), RF Eduard Martinez (age 20, .289) and 3B Juan Mejia (age 22, 2 HR, .269, 16 SB).

Pitching – The top starter on the team is older LHP Yohan Flande (2-2, 1.31 ERA, 48 IP, 32 H, 16 BB, 43 K).  Flande is 21 and in his 3rd DSL season, however, making one wonder why he has not been promoted yet.  Pedro Carpio is the other top starter who is more likely a better prospect.  At age 19 Carpio is in his 2nd DSL season.  This year he is 1-3 with a 2.55 ERA and relatively strong peripheral stats (42.2 IP, 40 H, 15 BB, 43 K).

The real prospects on the squad may come from four younger pitchers who have struggled some this year.  The most unhittable pitcher has been 18-year-old LHP Dario Alvarez.  Alvarez is only 1-3 with a 4.63 ERA but has been effectively wild (35.1 IP, only 22 H, 29 BB, 49 K).  Three 17-year-old arms finish off the potential prospect list.  Ebelin Lugo is 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA and has been in the starting rotation since the beginning of the year.  His peripherals are good, but not great, giving up only 33 hits in 39 IP but having a mediocre 22/18 K/BB ratio.  Reginal Simon is a 17-year-old prospect from Haiti with great projectible size (6’3″, 177).  Simon has had a strong start going 2-1 with a 2.13 ERA (38 IP, 29 H, 23 BB, 25 K).  Juan Sosa, also a 17-year-old RHP, leads the team in wins with a 5-2 record and also has decent peripherals (2.75 ERA, 36 IP, 29 H, 24 BB, 25 K).  All 4 of these younger pitchers have had control problems in the early going but have improved in July.  The team’s turnaround is largely due to their recent play.

For roster and individual player pages and splits, consult the Minor League baseball web site.